Vehicle direction-indicator and signal.



A. LECKtY i (i. W. DAYMUN.

wsmcLE Dmmxom INM/noa AND SIGNAL APFLICAYION FlLU MAR. 19h.

APPUCATION FlLED MAK. 1917.

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ALNDEB LECKEY, 0F CAMDEN, NEW JERSEY, AND GEORGE 'W'. DAYMGN, Gl? PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

VEHICLE DIRECTION-INDICATOR ND SIGNAL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

retreated nel. agrees.

Application tiled March '7, 1917. Serial No. 153,14?.

To all whomy t may concern:

Be it known that We, ALEXANDER LECKEY and GEORGE WASHINGTON DAYMON, citizens of the United States, and residents, respectively, of Camden, in the count of Camden and State of New Jersey, and hiladelphia, county of Philadelphia, and State of Penn Sylvania, have invented new and useful mproveniente in Vehicle Direction-indicators and Signals, ety which the following is a specification.

Gui invention relates to new and useful improvements in vehicle direction indicator and signal, and has for its object'to provide an exceedingly simple and effective de rice of this character whereby the course of the vehicle mayr he indicated to approaching or Jfollowing trailic, or the intention of the operator to 'proceed or stop signaled to other traffic upon the roadway.

A further object of the invention is to provide an indicator and signal which may he rea dil;7 operated b v the chauffeur or driver ot the vehicle. and which may be persons riding or Walkingi and which may be readily seen either in the day-time or during darkness.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a device ol" this character which will be relatively1 inexpensive in the cost of-V manufacture. exceedingly compact. because of having few parts. but which will be strong andy durable.

With these ends inV View. our invention consists in the details ot construction and combination oi elements hereinafter set I icorth and then specifically designated by the claims.

ln order that those skilled in the art to which this invention appertains. may understand hovv to make and use the same, we will describe its construction in detail, referring by numerals to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this application, Iin Whichi A Figure l, isa side elevation of a vehicle, showing our ,improvement applied thereto.

Fig. t?, is a front. elevation thereof.

Fig. 3, is an enlarged. vertical sectional view of one ot' the casings.

'Figa 4, is a front elevation thereof with the 'front plate removed.

Fig. 5, is an enlarged plan view of the indicating member or the operating handle.

Fig. 6, is a side elevation, partly in section tudinal horizontal shaft 3 carrying a beveled.

gear l, which meshes lwith another beveled gear 5 secured to one end of the operating shaft 6, the other end 'of which is located within easy access of the operator. Said shaft is rotatably mounted in a barrel 'l' rigidly secured to some suitable portion of the vehicle. the outer end of which carries an indicating member 8 which may be of any suitable shape or size, herenshown as round, and having indentations 9 therein, said indentations being provided with indicatif; marks l0. such as the letter R for right, ,d for stop. L for lett and C ior clear. While in the foregoing ive have referred to rigid shafts for transmitting the desired motion we contemplate as n'ell other means of trans mitting motion from the vicinity of the drivers seat to the signal apparatus which may eonn'n'isea flexible shaft. of Well known construction which may be readilyT inserted in place at the under portion of the vehicle. There are other methods of transmitting mon tion which ive have contemplated but which need only a merc reference thereto.

The outer end ot' the operating shaft 6 projects bevond the outer end of the barrel 7. and on said projecting en d is mounted an operating crank or handle l1. of a size suit-- able to tit the indentations 9. so that when the proper adjustment isobtained, the crank handle is held against' accidental movement. The longitudinal shaft 3 runs the entire length of the vehicle and projects into a suitable easing 12 of any desirablesize or shape'. and any suitable construction. one o1" which issecured to the vehicle at the front liti and rear. 'Each of these casings is provided vvith a iace plate 13 having a sight opening 14 therein. and the ends of the shaft 3 prf liect through the casings and their plates,

lo which are arranged to rotate with the shaft B, and in practice these pointers are held between two nuts 16 and 1'?, threaded upon the ends of the shaft. u ,11

Within each casing and on the shaft 3 is mounted a-spectaclc dish 18 having a number' of openings 19 of any desi able shape, therein, across each of which is disposed a sheet of transparent material 20, such as glass, and each may be differently colored, or one may be clear and' the other three dill'erently colored, whereby indications and signals oi' different meaning may be given. rihis spectacle Vdisk is preferably held upon the shaft between the nut 16 and another nut 21 threaded upon the shaft'. ln each casing 12 is also located a suitable source of light 22 such as an electric light bulb, and this is so situated or arranged that the rays of light therefromf will pass out of the sight opening 1- and through any one oit' the differently colorednienibers 2G.

l'n practice when it is desired .to indicate to approachingl or following trahie that the operator oi"the vehicle intends to proceed alone theroad-Way, the operating or crank handle 11 is turnedto the proper position,

dispensed with, and all the signals or indi 'cations produced by incans of the pointers.

When the operator of the vehicle Ais `going to'stop, the operating,- or crank handle 11 turned to the proper position, which will "i turn the pointers 15 downward and move the red or other suitably colored transparent nieinber into alineinent with the sight opening 1li. Likewise when the operator of the vehicle is going to turn, either right or left, the operating or crank handle 11 is turned to the properposition to move the pointer 15 either to the righi-,or left, as the case may be, and at thesarne time move one of 'the transparent: meschers 2() into alinencent with the sight opening 14C and these transpareiit members will be of dii'erentcolors, as for instance, green when turned to the right, and'blue when turning; to the left. Ars will be noted from the above description, the intentions of the operator to move iorward, stop or proceed, either' to the right or left may be easily and quickly indicated, goth at the front and rear of the vehicle, so i iat traiiic proceeding in either direction Willi be at once apprised'of the direction to be incense taken by the vehicle, provided With such sig-v nals., therefore reducing,l to a minimum the likelihood of accidents7 and loss of life or property. y

ln Figs. 6 and 7, We have shown a slightly inodiiicd forni of our invention, in which the casings 12 and the differently colored signali spectacles or members 2O are dispensed with, and in place of the casings, suitable brackets 23 are secured at the front and rear of the vehicle, in which are journaled the. ends of the longitudinal shaft 3 with their ends projecting' beyond said brackets, While on said projecting ends are secured the pointers 15, in the saine manner as above described.

ln seine suitable position, as for instance'-w above the pointers 15 are secured the shields 24, one at each end of the vehicle, and Within these shields arranged a suitable source of light such as electric light bulbs, so that the rays of light therefrom will be projected upon the outer face of the pointers. During the daytime, these pointers may be readily seen by the natural light, and during darkness the rays of light thrown from the source oi light 25 will be projected upon said pointers, so that the saine may be readily seen, and said pointers should be of such color or material as to reflect and intensify the rays of light.

The operation of this iorin of our inven tion is identical `with the form shown in Fi 1 and o, with the exception that no colored indications are produced.

Of course we do not Wish to be limited to the exact details of construction as herein shown` as these may be varied Within the limits of the appended claims without departing from the spirit of our invention,

Having thus fully described our invention, what We claim as new and useful, is

1. In a vehicle direction indicator and signal in combination, a casing, a face plate provided with a sigiht opening, a. shaft havingr one end projecting through the easing and face plate, a spectacle disli` having open* ings therein mounted upon said shaiitwithin the easing, transparent. member' of different colors disposed across said openings, a source of light Within the casing', a' pointer secured.

to the end of the shaft outside of the face plate, said n 'pointerand said spectacle diskbeinfz rigidly connected and means 'for re iis climi?. i@ the shaft wit-hin this @aging whereby said openings may be moved to th@ sight opening in the face plate, said pointr'and said. spectacle disk being rigidly joined and. 5 moving; together, transparent membexs of dit? ferent colors disposed across the openingszin the specmci disk :md a source of iight Wiif; dispnsed so as to pm' si; myg of ,iemmm tmwmgh the Sigi@ meinung aiiixed @ur si gimtumg,

ALEXANDER LEEKLY. GERGE W. DAYMUN. 

